We’re pretty much halfway through the year now and I want to know: If you had to… Which beer has defined the first half of 2009 for you?Maybe it’s the beer that you’ve drunk the most of? Maybe it was just a one-off beer that has a great memory or story attached to it? Maybe it was the night you drank too many pints of it and had the best night ever, creating a beer memory to last forever? It could be new or old, rare or everywhere. Whatever it is, pick the one beer that stands above all the others for the first six months of 2009.
And have a great weekend all - I'll be splitting mine between The Bull (for Epic Halcyon) and Brighton (Evening Star here I come).
For me it’s Thornbridge’s Jaipur. I first had it at the Rake in the meet the brewer session and since then I’ve hunted it down like a madman. It was the first pint I had at two beer festivals and it was the first pint I chose when I visited the Coach and Horses in Dronfield (on the day that we visited the brewery and they were brewing… you guessed it… Jaipur). I’ve had numerous pints of it in The Bull and I just think it’s the best cask ale in the UK right now.
ReplyDeleteHonourable mention: Punk IPA. I couldn’t not shout it out. It’s the beer I’ve got most bottles of at home and it’s the beer I’ve drunk most of this year. I’ve also had a great 6 months worth of drinking BrewDog beers and doing the food and beer pairings for them. Not to mention a couple of great pints of Punk. Plus I’m guessing you kind of expected me to say something from BrewDog!
Marble Pint, and I'll tell you for why...
ReplyDeleteI may not have had it too often but it has epitomised my recent new found love for the simplistic pleasure that is the session beer. I am now far more likely to walk into a pub and order the 3.8% beer (rather than the 4.5) than I was this time last year. Marble Pint manages to pleasantly surprise me every time I try it. Great depth of flavour and juicy fruit hops and last night was probably the best I've ever had it.
Having said all this, Garrett has put Pictish Brewers Gold on for tonight and I'll probably change my answer again after having that!
I too have drunk a shitload of Punk IPA lately.
I think for me it must be Mallinson's Pale and Hoppy as that describes in three words my favourite session style. Mallinson's though seem to get away from the one dimensional aspect that spoils some of the beers brewed in that style.The malt base is always there providing a solid underpinning.
ReplyDeleteI should also chuck in an honourable mention for Lees Brewer's Dark, a luscious mild and a beer I drink a lot of.
Marble Pint is a great beer too though. Oh. It's pale and hoppy.
Wild Walker Old Big 'Ed. A messy, sulphur-ridden porridge of a beer that's sadly symptomatic of the overly-ambitious microbrewing scene in England. I'd rather have ten times fewer microbreweries that all brewed with passion than the endless brown swill from new brewers.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!
ReplyDeleteI'm with dubbel. Marble pint for me has been the beer of the last 6 months.
ReplyDeleteHonourable mentions go to Punk IPA, DarkStar Hophead and jaipur!
Tandleman, I haven't seen any Mallinson's down south to my knowledge. I've seen you write about it a few times. I'll start looking out for them.
ReplyDeleteHaddonsmon, I second Tandleman's Amen. I want to taste the passion.
Brad/Pete, I've had serious cravings for Pint and Hophead recently. Like you Brad I'm seeing the light of the sub-4%er! I would've scoffed at it not so long ago (if it ain't 8% I don't care!!) but now I want to see good, pale, hoppy beers with loads of flavour at around that ABV.
My original answer even said Hophead as a second option!
Lashings and lashings of chip-cheap Brooklyn Lager. Thank you very much Mr Tesco.
ReplyDeleteTesco have had some super-cheap deals on. Punk IPA for 99p a bottle for weeks at a time! I filled my fridge and drank it all!
ReplyDeleteMark/Dubbel, session beer is the way forward! some of my favorite beers are about 3.8%
For me it's been two styles of beer, IPA's and Stouts. I spent a lot of time reacquainting myself with them the last six months and have fallen in love with them all over again.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick one from each style, it would be Mikkeller's Beer Geek Brunch Weasel for Stouts and Pliny The Elder for IPA's. On the more easily obtained/affordable side, I really enjoyed Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra IPA.
Mark, Brunch Weasel and Pliny the Elder have been the two best one-off beers I've had this year. They are both awesome and I can't wait to try them again soon.
ReplyDeleteI know this is predictable but it has to be the Punk IPA. Simply on sheer quantity that must win. Nothing smacks me in the mouth so beautifully as an ice cold Punk.
ReplyDelete